


Of first meetings and peter rabbit

by zyva



Series: Of friends and found families [2]
Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Adoption, Kid Fic, M/M, Modern AU, More Fluff, allusions to past abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-27
Updated: 2019-02-27
Packaged: 2019-11-06 12:08:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17939408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zyva/pseuds/zyva
Summary: “You okay?”“Just nervous.”-o-Jack and David meet their match child and suddenly, they're on the way to the start of their own family.





	Of first meetings and peter rabbit

**Author's Note:**

> Repost from [here!](https://must-be-brooklyn.tumblr.com/post/183022851259/ok-thats-way-too-cute-can-we-have-a-fic-were)
> 
> Warnings: allusions to past abuse and institutionalisation of background character - if you'd like more info, please just send a message through!!

The green vinyl was scratchy under David’s legs. Lumpy cushion, too-straight backrest, uneven legs. Nothing about it was comfortable, but even the picked-apart armrests could not distract him from the way his heart hammered within his chest, as if it was trying to escape and run away.

He wrung his hands together in his lap, twisting his fingers and picking at the skin as he did his best to keep a straight face. He wanted to make a good impression. He _had_ to make a good impression. The little boy they had matched with, Alex, had to like them if this was going to go any further.

David’s stomach dropped as he thought about it. Since they had received their match telephone call the previous week, David had been switching between being scared out of his mind and so ready for this opportunity that he could not even put words together; needless to say, it had not been the most productive week at work he had ever had.

Now, sitting on this hard, vinyl covered chair, he just felt sick. The little room they had been asked to wait in was empty aside from them, aside from a few extra chairs and the copious numbers of posters plastered to the walls. David scanned them, trying to distract himself.

“You okay?” Jack’s voice was low as he reached to grab onto David’s balled fists with one of his hands.

David nodded stiffly and looked down at their hands. “Just nervous.” He looked up at Jack and tried to give him a smile.

This was the chance they had been waiting for. It had been almost two years since they had first started looking at adoption and after all of the police checks, interviews, statements from friends and family and questionnaires, they were finally a mere few months away from adopting four-year-old Alex.

As long as the first meeting went well.

Of course, they had been briefed on Alex’s history. They knew about his father’s death, his mother’s descent into medically declared inability to care for him and her institutionalisation, his extended family’s refusal to even meet with him. It was not only the bad things, though. Long meetings had also let them know about his love of stories, fondness for drawing and adoration of cuddly toys

In those meetings, it had almost seemed as though Alex would be almost as perfect of a match as they could get. In reality, David knew it would be very different. Paper and ink could never fully portray a person.

And now, there were separated from Alex by a mere few walls. His emergency foster placement parents were with him, David knew that, but if this meeting went well, they would start integrating him into their house soon enough.

Jack squeezed David’s hands and his own chair squeaked as he leaned across to press a gentle kiss to David’s cheek. “It’s gonna be fine,” he said. David lent into the touch and smiled. He could hear the nerves in Jack’s voice, too.

“Of course, it is,” he agreed, bouncing his knees a little. He grinned at Jack. “We’ve totally got this.”

The door that led into the waiting room opened, and a woman with a folder under her arm stepped inside her gait relaxed. “Gentlemen,” she said, taking a seat. “It’s good to see you. Excited?”

“Mira,” David said in lieu of a greeting, “It’s nice to see you, too.” He heard the tremble in his own voice and winced at it.

Laughing a little, Mira placed the manila folder on her lap and opened it. There were only a few sheets of paper inside, all paperclipped into various groups. Passing one of the sections to Jack and David, she took another one out for herself.

“Well, Alex is ready to meet you,” she said, “We just need you to sign another form before you head in.” She launched into an explanation of the form, but David found it hard to focus. The nausea was intensifying. He was numb as he signed the paper.

Mira scanned over their names quickly and then nodded in satisfaction. “Well, all looks good. Now, Alex’s emergency placement family is with him at the moment. We’re planning to leave them in there, at least at the state. If it all goes well, though, we’ll take them out and leave you alone with a supervisor, just so that we can monitor how we think everything is going.”

“Sounds good,” Jack said. He stood up and nudged David, too. Their hands never separated as they followed Mira down the corridor to a new room.

She turned to them before she knocked on the door. “Ready?”

David nodded and saw Jack doing the same out of the corner of his eye. “As we’ll ever be,” he heard Jack say.

His heart was in his throat as he leant closer to Jack. It was a surreal feeling; beyond the door, their life was potentially a minute away from changing forever. And, oddly, David suddenly felt ready for that. He was hyper-aware of everything going on around him and beyond terrified, but there was an unfamiliar excitement lurking somewhere within him, too.

Glancing at Jack, he could see a similar look in his eyes, too. David pecked him on the cheek was Mira knocked. “This is going to be everything we hoped for,” he whispered into Jack’s ear. The words were gone as soon as he said them, but he saw Jack’s face brighten a little more.

The door opened and David’s insides felt as through they dropped down to the basement. The sole reason he managed to walk inside was his body running on autopilot. Jack’s fingers, pressing steady rhythms into his palms, grounded him, but the smile that grew on his face was completely genuine as he knelt before Alex.

“Hey, Alex,” Jack said. He was sitting cross-legged next to David. “It’s nice to meet you. My name’s Jack.” He spoke slowly and very deliberately, but he grinned the whole time.

Alex regarded him with caution but managed a small wave. The stuffed rabbit in his lap was drawn tighter his chest and he threw a look back at the adults behind him. David looked in their direction too; a couple, presumably Alex’s foster family, Mira, and a young man, who David supposed was the psych evaluator who made sure everything went smoothly.

David turned his attention back to Alex and looked into his dark eyes. “I’m David,” he said gently, “I’m really excited to meet you today.” Alex looked down at the ground and his hands knotted themselves into the faux fur of the rabbit.

Wiggling a little closer, Jack leant towards Alex. “Who’s this?” Jack asked, gesturing towards the toy, “Does he have a name?”

Alex looked at him and then gave a small nod.

“Can you tell us what he’s called?” David asked, catching onto Jack’s strategy.

One thing that they had never been briefed on was what to say in the first meeting. All evidence and advice pointed to the obvious; introduce yourself, be on your child’s level, be friendly, be understanding, don’t overwhelm them with too many questions at once. But what those questions were or could be had never been specified to them.

It was like walking blind. David had no idea what he was doing, but there was some sort of adrenalin driving him forwards. He, too, shifted himself a little to form something of a tiny circle with Jack and Alex.

“Flopsy,” Alex whispered. He rubbed the ear of the rabbit against his cheek.

David’s chest felt like it was about to explode with happiness and relief. They had an answer. That was more than they had been warned they might be able to expect.

“Flopsy, huh?” Jack said, “That’s a really good name. Why did you choose it?” He glanced at David and his eyes were glistening, face alight.

Alex gave a small shrug, movement muffled by the way he hugged Flopsy to himself. “Mama read it once in a book.”

“Was it a good book?” David asked quickly. One thing they had been warned away from was talking too much about Alex’s past in the first session. To bring up childhood trauma in the first session never made for a good first impression, or so they had been told.

Nodding, Alex did not look at either of them. “Like Peter more, though.”

“I like the story, too.” David tried to make eye contact with Alex again and gave him a bright smile. “Actually, I think Jack and I have the book at home. Maybe, if we see you again, we can bring it along and read it with you. Would that be okay?”

For the first time, David thought he could see a little shimmer of happiness in Alex’s eyes as he glanced between him and Jack, nodding quickly.

David lost track of time after that. The conversation was not easy, and there was no denying that Alex was very quiet, but it felt right. His stomach did flips, and his cheeks ached from smiling so much.

By the time they were waving goodbye to Alex with promises of reading Peter Rabbit with him the next time they met, David was dizzy with a combination of relief, exhilaration and joy. He could not put words together to explain what was going through his mind, but hugging Jack as they stepped out of the room, he knew they felt the exact same way.

Mira’s debrief followed in a giddy haze and the psychologist’s approval left David feeling as though he could have flown. He itched for a moment alone with Jack; he was not sure whether he wanted to scream, cry or laugh, but it felt like a combination of all three as he buzzed, waiting for the others to leave.

As soon as their little waiting room was empty again with an offhand agreement that they could have a few minutes in private, Jack turned to him.

“God, that was amazin’,” Jack said, bouncing on the balls of his feet. He grasped David’s hands and shook them up and down. “Davey, that was so, so brilliant!” Launching himself forward, he grasped David around the waist and kissed him on the lips.

David smiled into the kiss and hugged him back, clutching him as tightly as he could. “We might have a kid soon,” he whispered, pulling away from Jack for a moment and extracting himself from his grip. His face blanked and his heart raced. “Oh, my God, Jack, we might have a kid soon!” He laughed in disbelief and kissed Jack again.

“I love you so, so much,” Jack said, hands cupping either side of David’s face, “And I can’t wait to have a kid with you.” He looked up at the ceiling and David could see the tell-tale signs of tears in his eyes. “Fuck, Davey, we’re gonna be parents.”

A small noise escaped David that he could not have put a name to. “Yeah, Jacky, we’re going to be parents.” He grinned at Jack and gave him another, short peck. “And, I’m so glad that I’m doing it with you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: [must-be-brooklyn](https://must-be-brooklyn.tumblr.com)


End file.
